The present invention concerns a method for keeping infusion fluids and similar warm, particularly for outdoor use, for example at the scene of an accident. The invention also concerns a device for execution of the method according to the invention.
It is well known that fluids that are to be given to persons by infusion should be kept at a temperature as close to body temperature as possible, in order to minimise discomfort and risks. It may be necessary on many occasions to give such fluids to persons who have suffered an accident, and thus it follows that it should be possible to transport the fluids to the site of an accident, and it should be possible there to give them to the person while maintaining the temperature of the infusion fluid. Special bags, for example, have been developed for this purpose that, with the aid of power from, for example, a car in which the fluid has been transported, can maintain the temperature of the contents, such as, for example, an infusion bag at a constant level, for example, approximately 37xc2x0 C. It has also been realised that it may be necessary during the infusion to enclose the infusion bag in a heat-insulating cover, in order for the infusion bag to maintain its original temperature, or at least, for it not to cool too quickly.
Despite the measures that have been taken in an attempt to be able to maintain the original temperature of the infusion fluid, major problems remain in maintaining the temperature of the infusion fluid up until injection into the person who is to receive the infusion. Naturally, these problems become more severe the lower the ambient temperature is, and these problems may become very severe particularly in winter in the Nordic climate with acute cold and, furthermore, accompanying wind, making the cooling of the infusion fluid even more rapid once the fluid has been taken from its original heated container.
One aim of the invention thus is to achieve a new method by which the problems mentioned above can be solved, such that infusion fluids can be given to patients without further discomfort or risks, no matter what the weather.
The above-mentioned aim of the invention is achieved with a method for keeping infusion fluids warm in which not only the infusion bag but also the tube that extends from it and a cannula that is attached to the end of the tube are surrounded by a continuous heat-insulating cover, which heat-insulating cover is arranged also to surround that part of a person, for example, one of the arms, into which the cannula is to be inserted.
A further aim of the invention is to achieve a device for keeping an infusion fluid warm with which the above-mentioned problems can be solved, such that infusion fluids can be given to patients without any further discomfort or risks, no matter what the weather.
This further aim of the invention is achieved with a device that comprises a continuous cover manufactured from a heat-insulating material with an upper part for surrounding an infusion bag, a central part for surrounding a tube that runs from the infusion bag, and a lower part for surrounding not only a cannula at the end of the tube, but also that part of the person into which the cannula is to be inserted.